Heslacher waterfalls

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Information board with an overview of the water systems in the area. The waterfalls are located southeast of the major intersection

The Heslach waterfalls are located in the Heidenklinge, a steep, wooded valley in the Stuttgart district of Heslach . They were created when spring water from the Oberen Glems in the Stuttgart Pfaffenwald was diverted to better supply the Stuttgart city stream Nesenbach , collected in the park lakes there and then diverted via the Christophstollen to the Heidenklinge, from where the water ran down the natural gradient into the Nesenbach valley.

prehistory

Since the water consumption of the up-and-coming city of Stuttgart grew and the scoop fountains in the city only gave off little and often polluted water, two wooden pond pipes (wooden pipes) were laid from Kaltental into the old castle from 1451 . With them, part of the water of the Nesenbach, which was still quite clean far from the town, was intercepted for the ducal family and the pleasure garden.

As the city's water consumption continued to rise, another pond line was laid from Kaltental into the city from 1548 in order to be able to supply rich town houses and public fountains with clean water.

The continued increase in water extraction from the Nesenbach in Kaltental subsequently led, especially in hot and dry seasons, to an acute water shortage in the Nesenbach and, as a result, to odor nuisance in the city center, as the creek was also used for the disposal of faeces and garbage at that time. But the protests of the Stuttgart millers also grew stronger, as their mills were more and more shut down in summer due to lack of water.

Emergence

When Duke Christoph had the water pipe from Kaltental to the castle and the pleasure garden significantly expanded in 1564 and the Nesenbach was only a trickle as a result, the protests became louder and louder and the Duke launched an investigation into better supplying the city and the Nesenbach Turn on the water. The experts' recommendations were then implemented from 1566 to 1575.

First, in 1566, a source of the Upper Glems was intercepted in the swampy Pfaffenwald, diverted and dammed up to the artificial Pfaffensee. Subsequently, an 805 m long underground tunnel, the Herzog-Christoph-Tollen, was built to the Heidenklinge and the water of the Pfaffensee drained over it. The construction work for the tunnel dragged on with interruptions until 1575. The Heidenklinge is an ancient cut in the terrain and leads down into the Nesenbachtal. You could therefore let the water flow through the valley down into the Nesenbach, following natural gravity without special structures. Due to the steep slope in the valley, waterfalls formed in some places.

Since the water of the Pfaffensee was no longer sufficient after a few years, further sources in the Glemswald were diverted, additional lakes were created and connected to the Pfaffensee. In 1618 , Duke Johann Friedrich also had the Bärensee dammed, in 1812 the Steinbachsee and the Katzenbachsee and in 1833 the Neue See.

In the 19th century, the waterfalls (as well as the adjacent Bürgerwald, the red deer park and the Hasenberg) were a popular destination.

Decline

Since the water consumption of the city of Stuttgart increased in the course of the industrialization and the massive population growth, the city began in 1862 with the construction of water works and an urban water supply.

In 1874 the lake water works was opened on the Hasenberg . From now on, the water from the park lakes was no longer channeled through the Heidenklinge into the Nesenbach, but directly into the lake waterworks, where the water was purified and fed into the urban water network.

Since then, the Heidenklinge and the Heslach waterfalls have only been supplied with little water from the park lakes (especially after heavy rainfall to relieve the park lakes). Therefore, they have been significantly smaller since then.

When the Gäubahn was built from Stuttgart to the suburb of Vaihingen and on to Horb in 1879 , a high embankment had to be built across the Heidenklinge. Since then, this has cut the valley and the waterfalls at their most beautiful point. Since then, the water has been flowing through a tunnel under the railway embankment and continues to follow the Heidenklinge below the railway embankment until it joins the Nesenbach. Since the lower part of the valley is less steep, the water flows more slowly here and is hardly recognizable as lower waterfalls.

Since the Nesenbach and the confluence of the Heidenklinge are built over, the Heidenklinge disappears in a tube at the Heslach tram depot today. In the area there, however, you can still see a historic stone bridge of the earlier pond lines from Kaltental to the city.

The construction of the B14 from the Heslacher Tunnel to the Schattenring also meant that the valley is now cut off from the Bürgerwald.

  • Heslacher waterfalls-pjt.jpg

  • Above the Heslacher waterfalls, the water crosses a bridge of the former Leonberger Straße (B14)

  • The water flowing under the bridge of the former Leonberger Straße (B14) feeds the Heslach waterfalls

  • The tunnel under the railroad embankment of the Gäubahn (built in 1879), since then it has separated the Heslach waterfalls into an upper and a lower part

literature

  • Adrienne Braun: In the middle and outside. Stuttgart's quiet corners. Konstanz 2014, pages 36–41.
  • Ulrich Gohl: The Nesenbach: Secret under Stuttgart's streets . Silberburg-Verlag , Tübingen 2002, ISBN 3-87407-528-1 .
  • Jürgen Hagel: Man and nature in the Stuttgart area: On the history of a difficult relationship . Silberburg-Verlag, Tübingen 2001, ISBN 3-87407-385-8 .
  • Jürgen Hagel: Saurians, plague and bread riot - episodes from Stuttgart's past . Silberburg-Verlag, Tübingen 2000, ISBN 3-87407-300-9 .
  • Jürgen Hagel: Mask Festival and Mammoth Teeth - Episodes from Stuttgart's Past . Silberburg-Verlag, Tübingen 2000, ISBN 3-87407-362-9 .

Web links

Coordinates: 48 ° 45 ′ 27 ″  N , 9 ° 7 ′ 24 ″  E